Sun Pacific adds Wawona and Moonlight to Cuties cooperative
Sun Pacific adds Wawona and Moonlight to Cuties cooperative
Moonlight Cos. and Wawona Packing Co. have reached an agreement with Sun Pacific Marketing to supply clementines and mandarins that will be marketed under the "Cuties" brand.
"Adding Moonlight and Wawona to the Cuties Cooperative was the next logical step in bolstering the supply, service and merchandising support to our growing customer base," said Berne Evans III, chairman and chief executive officer of Sun Pacific, based in Pasadena, CA. "Our combined synergies under the direction of Sun Pacific will add further brand value to our customers and consumers by providing the highest quality and best flavored Cuties clementines and mandarins to the world."
Moonlight, based in Reedley, CA, and Wawona, based in Cutler, CA, are two industry-leading, California-based grower-packer-shippers of high-quality citrus, grapes and stone fruit, according to a Sun Pacific press release.
The three companies market major portions of the California stone fruit, grape and citrus markets. Each has also been successful in their own right with their marketing campaigns.
"It's way too early to say what the volume and marketing campaigns will look like," said Evans. "We will have plenty of fruit. We're not worried. We basically started the clementine business in California. We're just trying to get through this year's Navel crop and get ready for grape season right now.
The relationship between these three grower-shippers has developed steadily over the last decade.
"We work with them on tree fruit and have become good personal friends and business partners over the last eight to 10 years," Evans added.
